At the age of 24, Mary encountered a fatality in her life once again. This time, it was of her husband Percy, the only true reason left to live. He died in a boating accident while out at sea, leaving Mary skint with a 2-year old son. For her remaining 29 years, she engaged in a struggle with the disapproval of her relationship with Percy. Poverty coerced Mary to live in England of which she despised of due to the morality and social system. She was shunned by conventional circles and took a profession in writing to support her father and son. Her peers however, included literacy and theatrical figures, artists and politicians. Eventually, Mary became accustom to women’s independence, somehow following her mother’s footsteps as a feminist. At the age of 48, Mary became a minority to society. She later died at the slender age of 54 following a fatal brain tumour.
In Frankenstein, chapter 5 is seen to be the most crucial scene and setting of the novel, bringing along with it heartache, sympathy and commotion. Chapter 5 consists of the creation of a designated and unwanted monster, made by Sir Victor Frankenstein. In this chapter, Victor encounters his worst night. He infuses life into an inanimate body, once formed, causes the destruction of his life. This devastation disrupts the night of the day: ‘It was on a dreary night of November’. After discovering this, he acknowledges where his arrogance and ignorance has got him. What can he possibly do? He is defenceless…
In this section, Victor uses a variety of adjectives to contrast with irony and sarcasm. For example: ‘Beautiful! Great God!’ This is a good use of irony to emphasize his true feelings towards the monster, that it is horrid and ugly. Victor also mentions two powerful phrases to retrieve the horrid description from our minds: ‘His hair was of a lustrous black…his teeth of pearly whiteness’. Victor then tries to drown his sorrows by going to bed, hoping to forget his moment of madness. Once in bed, he tries to discard the monstrosity from his mind, whereby he endures one of his most wildest, agitating dreams.
He dreams that he is once again confronted by Elizabeth and while participating in a kiss, she reform into the corpse of his mother who died after giving birth to Victors younger brother. His vision of her is concealed in a burial cloth, covered with grave worms in the interlace. During this dream, a cold drift of the miserable wretch, of which forced its way through the window shutters awakes Victor. His creation was real and had approached him, staring at him continuously, making strange noises while attempting a grin. Victor escaped from the creature, the demoniacal creature of which he had given life. Once arouse, Victor abandoned his home to issue the streets, pacing quickly, his pulse racing like a fight for survival. Victor hoped that withdrawing from his home and monster would allow him to start fresh and eliminate the wrench permanently from his mind. This thought was soon to be disintegrated in the blink of an eye. While Victor retreats from his apartment and the sinister creature, Mary uses a great metaphor: ‘I continued walking in this manner for some time, endeavouring by bodily exercise to ease the load that weighed upon my mind. By using the English term and phrase, it indicates that from him constantly moving, he I losing weight and forgetting the past. Mary then includes a spectacular poem to reflect Victor’s feelings and movements:
‘Like one, that on a lonesome road,
Doth walk in fear and dread,
And having once turned round walks on,
And turns no more his head,
Because he knows a frightful flend,
Doth close behind him tread’.
This is significant as it summarises Victors journey and feeling into a poetic, 6-line poem.
His odyssey then comes to a halt, as he perceives his friend, Henry Clerval. Coming across this memorable person allows him to forget his horror and misfortune; it allows him to feel calm and serene joy. They exchange stories and Victor reveals the scenario of his created monster. Henry believes it is a disturbed imagination, but the pertinacity of the story allows it to become believable. Where will Frankenstein go from here?
This chapter is of pure significance to how the story is concluded. It creates suspense, knowing there is a vile monster on the loose. Where will it go? What will it do? This chapter allows new themes to be created. Death! Love! What will this mean for Frankenstein? Will he live or will he die? How will this gothic novel conclude and what effect will this monster have on the communities’ welfare?
The character of Frankenstein should be immensely appreciated. Is Frankenstein who we think he is? From previously read chapters, we see the emotional and diligent side of Frankenstein. He is seen to be energetic, beneficial, well-mannered; a man of determination who would in capacitate at the thought of failure. However, chapter 5 emphasizes the indolent and non-progressive side of Dr. Frankenstein. We see this by the way he reacts to the form and appearance of his unforgettable monster. For example, he uses a great phrase: 'With anxiety that almost amounted to agony'. This suggests that the amount of fear and worry was immensely increasing. Victors feelings towards his creature are negative, consequently his use of irony emphasizes this. One piece of irony used is: 'I had selected his features as beautiful. Beautiful! Great God!’ Victor doesn't mean what he says so he uses sarcasm to overlap his disappointment. Victor also uses a rhetorical question to make himself and the reader think. He asks himself: 'how can I describe my emotions at this catastrophe?'. This once again clarifies his negativity towards the monster.
In this chapter, Victor has two main dreams, one being of relevance. His first dream is about the outcome of his creation; the beauty that had encountered to disgust and breathless horror. The second of the two dreams is the most abnormal. Victor dreamt that his wife Elizabeth had wandered the streets of Ingolstadt in the bloom of health; once embracing her, he kisses her dainty lips and somehow her body reforms to that of his dead mother, wrapped up in cloth, covered scarcely in graveworms. This is of pure relevance to the rest of the novel as they are seen as signs for what is to come in the future. As it happens, his dream in some phases becomes true. Elizabeth, Victor’s wife gets killed by his vicious creature. From this stage, Victor is forced to create a companion for the monster; not consenting to this would lead to more homicides within Victor’s family.
In the novel, Mary Shelley illustrates a poem to correlate with Victors retreat from home. The first line of the poem reads: ‘Like one, on a lonesome road’. Using this sentence suggests that Victor is walking by himself; disassociated with anyone. At this moment in time, he is feeling poorly and anxious about what the consequences hold. The second line reads: ‘Doth walk in fear and dread’. This emphasizes the fact that he is scared as he triumphants through the streets. The next line reads: ‘And having once turned round, walks on’. This phrase states that he turns around to see his surroundings, and then continues his journey. Victors feels as if the monster has banished him from Ingolstadt. The following line reads; ‘And turns no more his head’. This tells us that Victor doesn’t want to come in contact with the monster again. At this point, Victor still has the feeling of disappointment and embarrassment in himself. Next the poem reads; ‘Because he knows a frightful flend’. This means he knows a frightful demon, of whom to him is the monster he created. The final line of the poem reads: ‘Doth close behind him tread’. This means that the monster is perhaps close behind him. At this moment, Victor feels paranoid and weary.
Within this gothic novel, Victor includes 3 themes: dark science, isolation and weather. Dark science is used to indicate the creation of the fiend, made from scarce rotted bodily parts. His thoughts are deep and out of this world. His knowledge takes him so deep into science that his tutor tries to prevent him passing a certain stage in his medical degree. His aim is to infuse life into an inanimate body. He succeeds, however is disappointed with his result. During this theme, it is intercepted by weather. During the lonely nights and experimental days, the dark science compacts with horrid weather. For example: ‘it was on a dreary night of November that I beheld the accomplishments of my toils’. This tells us that the night the monster was finalised, the night and atmosphere was very dull. Another example of the weather is: ‘
